Short Film Analysis: Right Place

Right Place
This film was the winner of the "Best Short Films" at the Young Directors Awards Cannes and received a gold medal for the "Best Foreign Film" at the New York City Short Film Festival. It was directed by Kosai Sekine.

The narrative of the short film basically revolves around a convenience store clerk who is "a little eccentric" or in other words, has an OCD. Because of his obsession, this causes him to lose his job but he eventually finds a replacement job which accepts his eccentric personality. The title "Right Place" can be justified in the sense that it refers to the store clerk's obsession of everything needing to be in the 'right place' and also the idea of him searching for his 'right place' in society, which he eventually discovers in the end.

Analysis

The ways in which this short film adheres to the conventions of a short film is firstly through the way that it revolves around one idea; the eccentric trait of the main character. Mise-en-scene and the actions of this character throughout the whole of this short film continues to build upon the store clerk's personality, as well as the use of the minor side characters who again, are present simply to reinforce this character.

It can also be deduced that this was not really a high-budget production as aside from the ending credits which involved CGI to represent the bones of the skeleton, many of the camera shots and techniques were simple and basic. The use of close-up shots were the most common camera shot used in this film to show the focus and help elaborate on the idea that the store clerk has an obsessive compulsive disorder, which he does admit himself. Another reason why it was a low-budget film is because the film is rather low-key in the sense that it does not make use of well-known actors and we do not even learn the name of this character as it is not really essential.

The editing of the piece was cleverly constructed as when the techno-beat music was introduced, it was only ever used when the character's OCD was taking over. For example, as the young teenagers entered the shop and moved all the products around, the non-diegetic music started to play and the store clerk immediately went over the tidy the shelves out. Editing is also used effectively in time to the beat and pace of the music as jump cuts were used to reduce time and reinforce the main character's strange personality.

As this OCD eventually led to him being fired, the ex-store clerk managed to find the 'right place' as he picks up a 'bonesetter' advertisement on the floor whilst walking home from work; pathetic fallacy also plays a role here as he has just lost his job and the weather is dull and raining. After the credits, we see him twitch his neck, which he does a number of times throughout the film, and this is done to show that he has found the 'right place' which has accepted him and he is comfortable, despite his strangeness.

Short Film Analysis: Alma

Alma
This short film was created by Rodrigo Blaas, who produced this film in his spare time whilst also working on other Pixar projects. Blaas has also helped with past films such as 'Finding Nemo' and 'Up'.

In short, Alma is about a young girl who, whilst walking down a quiet road in France on a snowy winter's day, spots a doll in a shop window who appears to be a look-a-like of herself. Intrigued by this, Alma enters the strange shop to discover a number of other dolls. She tries to reach for the one doll which caught her attention in the first place however ends up getting more than what she had bargained for...

Analysis

From watching this short film, one can see that there are indeed a number of conventions similar to that which are commonly seen in a typical short film.

To start, it is evident that there is only one character throughout the entire film, Alma, whom the short story revolves around. This supports the notion that in a short film, there is normally only one protagonist. Furthermore, the employment of sound has been used very effectively in the sense that it is used not only as diegetic background music but also to show and convey the emotion and reactions of the little girl Alma. For example, when Alma sees the doll which reflects herself in the shop window, the music becomes a bit alarming and eerie to convey a sense of shock towards the audience. Furthermore, the use of camera techniques has a great impact in the short film as it helps reinforce feelings and tension in the animation through the use of close-ups, zooms, hand-held camera, point of view shots etc.

Another reason as to why music is so important is because at the beginning of the animation, it is the music which effectively is used to immediately indicate that the setting/ place is in France due to the sort of music which is played; a traditional French styled composure. Also, the film depends completely on music throughout since there is not a single line of dialogue therefore music, sound effects and visuals are heavily relied upon.

Keeping on the subject of the visuals, this has played a key role throughout the whole film as we learn a number of things through this means. For example, at the beginning of the short film "Alma", we learn of the protagonists name when the young girl writes her name on the window due to the absence of dialogue and any side characters to state it for us. The use of the brief focus on the small boy doll on the bike is also of great importance too as the doll repeatedly trying to get out of the shop but continuously bumping into the closed door symbolizes the idea that Alma is actually in danger and needs to get out of the shop herself. The composition of her when she is in the doll on the shelf surrounded by other dolls also conveys the idea that she is also stuck within this self-representing doll. Lastly, we learn at the end of the short film through visuals that there is in fact a twist to the whole story as another doll portraying a young child magically appears in the same place that Alma's doll appeared and we also see the wall in which Alma wrote her name. Here, as the camera zooms out, the audience realises that all the other names which can be seen actually belong to children who had followed the exact same steps as Alma and are trapped inside doll version of themselves as well.


"Alma" further shows that it sticks to the short film conventions as it is a 'short' film (lasting 5.30 minutes) and that it is an animation proves to show that it crosses the boundaries into animation rather than being a real-life performance.

To finish, the moral of this story simply plays and revolves around the proverb "curiosity killed the cat" meaning no good ever comes out from involving one's self in unnecessary things, as has been clearly portrayed by Alma. And this is another convention which has been adhered to in terms of what can be seen in short films as "Alma" focuses on the one plot/ idea; the proverb.

Conventions of a Short Film

The conventions of a short film are:

- they can vary from being as short as one minute. As of far, there is no clear definition for the maximum duration of a short film as the Academy of Motion Picture Art and Science states it as 40 minutes whereas the Internet Movie Database classifies it as 45 minutes.

- these productions are of low-budget in comparison to full length feature films which can explain why many short films which one might find are generally of low quality and lack CGI support. However, in some cases, the expenses of a short film can cost more than that of a Hollywood blockbuster. A famous example would be "Captain EO" which is estimated to have costed $30 million on production alone, but perhaps this is due to the fact that it was firstly a 3D short film, it was created in 1986 where it would of course have costed much more to produce than if it were made with todays technology, and lastly, it starred the ever so famous Michael Jackson.

- short films have the tendency to revolve around just one plot/ idea so as to elaborate more deeply and portray more meaning about the message trying to be conveyed

- these productions do not have to tell a story; short films can be created as a mere joke, to portray a journey, express a poem/ portrait, or simply as a parody.

- they allow the director to have more creative freedom as short films are supposed to be produced for enjoyment rather than as a means for profit. This idea of freedom can also be reinforced by the fact that as short films rarely go into/ are not intended to go under production, certification is not really necessary so directors can express what they want, how they want without having to worry about limits and boundaries.

- rather than relying on A-list actors which just increase the cost of the production, short films employ unknown actors who become the main protagonist of the piece. To add to this, creativity is used to captivate the audience rather than the use of well-known actors.

- besides visuals being of key importance and having an increased impact and role in short films, sound (dialogue, music, special effects) also are of huge importance as sound helps build up tension/ excitement and non-diegetic music is used in order to set the genre of the film right from the beginning of the clip. Furthermore, the inclusion of camera work along with this use of sound is what is used in order to ensure the short film remains interesting throughout its entire length.

- the narrative of story lines can either follow that of a a complete structure (equilibrium, disequilibrium, resolution) or sometimes end on a cliffhanger to give scope for a feature film or for the audience to make up their own ending.

- short films cross boundaries into all film areas overlapping into advertising, music, animation etc.

- unlike full length feature films, short films are shown through less traditional methods. For example, rather than being advertised on TV and screened in a cinema, word of a short film would be spread through the means of easily accessible public Internet sites such as Youtube or be promoted in short film festivals.

As I myself am planning on producing a short film, it would make sense for me to take this all into account to help me produce a successful product which fits comfortably into the short film genre and adhere to the conventions stated.

Brief: Short Films

The brief which I am most likely considering to do is a short film, alongside the two ancillery tasks of a poster and a perhaps a film magazine review page featuring the short film. This is as short films all tend to deal with just one theme therefore are not complicated in the sense of side stories which linked to the main plot, although it does mean short films are more artistic in that they require more in depth thinking and everything from dialogue, mise-en-scene, composition etc. has some sort of relevance. Normally, the most common theme is love, which I am thinking of following too. I have chosen the ancillary tasks stated as this shows the importance of the role which advertising plays when promoting a product.

As of yet, I am still to come up with an idea of what my short film will be about however, I am strongly leaning towards the thought of including a twist at the end of the film.

What a wonderful Gatsby.